The work of Avidyā is rooted in the exploration of darkness and suffering, and how the transformative power of art can help with the joy, connection and hope that potentially lies beyond pain. This is expressed via the three-part series Unveiling Suffering, Embracing Love and Light and Innocent Enchantment.
Avidyā believes that “bringing these shadows into the light offers solace and a sense of solidarity to all who encounter this work.” The solo show Avidyā? Vidyā? will be held at the Women’s Art Association of Canada, Toronto, 17–28 September and then at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, 9–14 October.
A: In Issue 120 of Aesthetica, we display the work Shine. How does this work reflect the three-part series Unveiling Suffering, Embracing Love and Light and Innocent Enchantment?
Avidyā: Shine is part of the Embracing Love and Light series.
A: How does Shine differ from works such as Embrace Myself?
Avidyā: First of all, they are two different models. When we embrace ourselves truly, we will shine naturally. When we shine, we embrace ourselves even more.
A: Who are the subjects in these works?
Avidyā: I work with different life models. I love to listen to their stories. I don’t ask them to pose a certain pose; they can just relax themselves and listen to their hearts to pose what they feel like to posing during the moment. We do have a lot of breaks in between, as sometimes they have some emotions when they talked about their stories, so we had a lot of coffee breaks.
Sometimes, I didn’t draw or paint anything in a session. I think the connection between the artist and the model is very important. Figurative drawing and painting is far beyond than the shape and form. They are human beings – not objects, not sculptures, not photos, but real humans.
A: Are any of these works self-portraits? If yes, why and if not, why not?
Avidyā: When I created the work Prayer, my intention is praying for all beings genuinely.
A: Your practice is rooted in the exploration of darkness and suffering. Is this in any way rooted to the name Avidyā, which signifies “ignorance” in Sanskrit?
Avidyā: A funny thing is that a lot of strangers have appeared all of a sudden out of nowhere and spoken to me, and told me their stories. So in a way, all of us have “Avidyā”, as human beings have suffered from their greed, hatred and delusion. No matter if they are poor or rich, sick or healthy.
A: Is this why you have the name Avidyā?
Avidyā: That’s me – ignorance, full of Ignorance!
A: What was the process behind the creation of the three-part series Unveiling Suffering, Embracing Love and Light and Innocent Enchantment?
Avidyā: For Unveiling Suffering I normally have models and I just paint their emotions underneath. When I created Embracing Love and Light and Innocent Enchantment I was physically alone but was surrounded by limitless, amazing energy.
I do enjoy complete silence and connection with the nature and my inner self. I can only hear the sound of my heartbeat, breath, the palette knife caressing the canvas, and the wind, rain and singing birds. Sometimes I laugh.
A: What came first – the overarching themes or the individual works?
Avidyā: The individual works, because I don’t want to limit myself with “themes”. Creation shouldn’t have any limitations. When Nicole, my art curator saw my works, we came up with the idea to sum up my works into three different themes. I was amazed with her idea and I even didn’t realise that until she said so.
A: To what extent is the use of colour important to you, when thinking about the transformative power of art?
Avidyā: It’s very important. What we see with our bare eyes are very limited. There are so many colourful atoms when we open our heart to “see” and to “feel”. I have to admit that my colour palette is still so limited and some colours couldn’t be mixed at all from what I “saw”. I really love Pure Love, and a lot of viewers are amazed with the colour. Still, it’s still not the colour that I “saw”, perhaps only 70% close to what I “saw”.
A: Tell me about Fun 1 and Fun 2 – are they a departure from an exploration of darkness and suffering, and will you explore this avenue further?
Avidyā: The life model was the most prettiest one that I‘ve come across, and she was very professional. However, some people are very pretty but that‘s it. I was bored with the model and so decided to have some fun with the work. I do this sort of art quite often, as it connects with my childish side. Again, it‘s part of me, within me.
A: How about works such as Deception, Obsession, Nightmare and Abandoned – why did you choose oil on canvas for some of the pieces and soft pastel on paper for others?
Avidyā: To me, all mediums are only a tool. After having conversations with models, I observe them for a while and then just go with the flow and pick what I feel during that specific moment. For example, for Chaotic Mind, once the model arrived, I intuitively I chose charcoal, and it worked really well with her mood.
I have another oil-on-canvas version of Abandoned but with a different posture of the same model as the soft pastel one you saw. We haven’t taken that one to Daniel, our fabulous photographer who takes all the high resolution photos for my artworks yet.
Deception, Obsession and Nightmare is a storyline, and it’s a real story. They are not my official models. Their story is so intense, and their love is also so intense in different levels. I didn’t think or plan anything – I just took my palette knife and painted Deception and Nightmare. In between these two pieces, I painted Obsession. I trust my instinct to choose the right medium to express and to tell the story.
A: Your abstract works feature a definitive use of texture and light – what is the thinking behind this?Avidyā: Well, I don’t think too much. To most viewers, it’s abstract. I painted what I “see” and “feel”. The light is so powerful and even the texture couldn’t express this powerful source, if that makes sense.
A: Your debut solo exhibition Avidyā? Vidyā? was held at RWS Gallery, London in July. What was the experience like for you?
Avidyā: I’m so blessed and so thankful to be working with so many amazing people. The art curator, Nicole, is a beautiful soul with a lot of good qualities. She is creative, hard working, responsible, has initiative, is independent but is also a team player.
There are so many wonderful people behind the scenes in a solo exhibition – people like Daniel, Monika, Tim, George, Adnaan, Viktor, Natasha and Marc.
The feedback from the viewers is very positive and kind. Some of them were in tears and talked to us, about how the works resonated with them, and told us about their stories. Some of them said the experience was very different from other exhibitions, and they felt it was very healing.
We did get some negative feedback though. I was told one couple who visited the exhibition said they had seen a lot of exhibitions which they think they are either very good or very bad. And they think that as an artist I am very naive. To be honest, they were right. I’m a very direct and simple person.
A: Your next show will be held at the Women’s Art Association of Canada, Toronto, 17–28 September. How are preparations going?
Avidyā: It’s all done. Half of the works are the same as my debut solo exhibition at RWS Gallery, and half of them are different from the London one, but overall the theme is the same. At this point, the works are ready to be sent by courier to Vancouver.
A: The themes in the exhibition – Unveiling Suffering, Embracing Love and Light and Innocent Enchantment – reflect the series. How are the works displayed within the spaces?
Avidyā: RWS Gallery is a perfect space for the themes. On the ground floor, we displayed Unveiling Suffering and in the basement, they already have two different sections, so it’s pretty easy for us to display Embracing Love and Light and there is a kind of like “tunnel”. After viewers experienced Embracing Love and Light they had to bend a bit to walk through the “tunnel” – just like kids play in the playground. So it’s our Innocent Enchantment.
A: The exhibition will also be held at Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, 9–14 October. Do you think you will make changes to how the works are displayed?
Avidyā: For both the Toronto and Hong Kong exhibitions, I’m not so sure yet at this point. We are still in process of working on it. For the Hong Kong show, the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre suggested that we not exhibit original works but use prints instead. According to them, it’s for security reasons.
The exhibition hall is huge when compared to RWS Gallery, London and Women’s Art Association of Canada, Toronto. I heard it’s around 2,300 square feet. In a way, it’s good for us to just exhibit prints – we can play around with the size of the prints. We also communicate closely with HKVAC regarding my figurative works. Most likely we can confirm everything after meeting with them face to face in August. And hopefully, we can get their written approval for all my figurative works. Nicole is working really hard on it.
A: Why do you want to offer solace and a sense of solidarity to all who encounter your work?
Avidyā: Well, in a way, we are living on a lonely planet, aren’t we? Some people, even though they live together under the same roof for half a century, they are still strangers to each other.
If viewers can gain solace and a sense of solidarity after seeing my works, at least I can raise their vibrations and soothe their hearts and souls for awhile. Or at least, can plant a joyful seed within them? At the end of the day, it’s their choice to make the change or not. All of us are pure and full of joy, we just let “Avidyā” blindfold our natural state, which is “Vidyā”.
All of us and everything are interconnected. And life is not what we can get but what we give and offer – how to be a good person and to make a better world.
A: What projects do you have coming up for the remainder of 2024 and throughout 2025?
Avidyā: We are preparing three projects at the moment and at this point, I can’t disclose anything yet! When the time is right, we’ll share the latest news on my Instagram.
All images courtesy of The Oneness Gallery.
avidya-artist.com | Instagram: @artistavidya I theonenessgallery.com
The work of Avidyā appears in Issue 120 of Aesthetica. Click here to visit our shop.
